


The Other Way

by Whadup_5



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Alternate Ending, Character Death, Corruption, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:48:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24627301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whadup_5/pseuds/Whadup_5
Summary: Star once claimed that she was not a skimmer, but that she was a dipper. Now she has nine long years of pain, death, and dark magic that only she will remember to prove it. Those Solarian Warriors never stood a chance.
Relationships: Star Butterfly/Marco Diaz
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	The Other Way

Moon smiled as she looked around her. The mewmans of the little yert village were hard at work finishing the wall, though it ultimately wouldn't be necessary. Today was the day when everything would finally go back to normal. It had taken a lot of planning, waiting, and gambling, but Moon felt that the outcome would be best for the Mewni.

Yes, everything was going according to plan.

It was then that Moon noticed something just barely in the line of her vision. She looked up and spotted something floating by overhead with a determined speed. Frowning, Moon squinted, trying to identify whatever this was. When she realized exactly who it was, her eyes widened.

"Star?" Moon gasped, a thousand questions running through her jumbling thoughts.

Sure enough, it was her daughter. Star was standing, perfectly balanced, on top of Cloudy with her arms folded. Her appearance hadn't changed much since Moon last saw her. The only differences were that her hair had been cut to just touching her shoulders, and she was wearing dark purple gloves that really didn't match her usual attire. Squinting a little harder, Moon saw a pen and paper floating next to Star. Moon's surprise briefly turned to impressed shock when she noticed the pen was writing down something on the paper without Star even looking at it.

_'Has Star's magic really improved in such a short time?'_

Moon shook her head, refocusing her thoughts as all her time as a queen had taught her.

_'No, no, no, this is fine. Everything can still go according to plan.'_

Moon cuffed her hand around her mouth and called out, "Star! Star, down here!"

Star didn't even turn to look toward the sound of her name. Moon's eyebrow's creased, watching as her daughter continued onward toward Monster Village without a second thought.

Something was wrong here. Within seconds, Moon was in her mewberty form and flying up to Star, calling her name only to be ignored. Ultimately, getting the younger girl to stop was accomplished when Moon flew directly in front of her.

Feeling that getting the most important, and potentially obstacle inducing question out of the way first was the best course of action, Moon began with, "Star, the portals aren't working, how did you get to Mewni?"

"Through the magic dimension," Star replied, her voice sounding so tired and emotionless. The paper next to her rolled itself up and disappeared along with the pen.

It was then that Moon was able to get a good look at her daughter. It looked like all the spirit, joy, and wonderment that had once encompassed her daughter's being had been sucked away. Star's eyes...they didn't look like the eyes of a free-spirited teenager anymore. They looked like the eyes of a tired soul that had been denied their eternal rest.

Not being able to keep eye contact with such a dead stare for long, Moon looked at Stars gloves, only to realize that she wasn't wearing gloves. Moon took in a sharp breath. Yes, she recognized the taint that dark magic would leave behind-she herself had the very thing not too long ago-but this had to be the worst case that she had ever seen. Star's hands and forearms were a solid dark purple. It was when the dark taint had reached halfway up her upper arms did it finally break off into the lighter purples of its signature cracking like appearance. Where the cracks ended Moon didn't know, as they disappeared up the sleeves of Star's shirt.

Moon had her hand over her mouth, trying to find words. "Star...what happened to you?"

Star unfolded her arms and looked down at her hands, looking almost bored while rotating them to look at both the front and back of them.

"Oh, yeah, funny thing. Turns out that Skywynne's spell on time loops doesn't have the caster age, but it does leave other major physical changes intact."

Moon did a double take. "Wait a minute, did you say Skywynne's spell on time looping?"

"Yup." Star held out her palms to Moon, "this, mother, is seven years of hardcore dark magic studying, training, and testing in order to be able to stop the Solarian Warriors."

The gears in Moon's head didn't have to turn long before the pang of guilt hit her heart. "So... then you know...?"

Star refolded her arms. "Yup."

Moon flew a little closer to Star, her hand held out, but Star didn't react. "Star, listen, I have everything-"

"No, you don't," Star interrupted. "The Solarian Warriors are sworn to Solaria. Not you. They will rebel when you refuse to kill Eclipsa and the monsters, and you will be powerless to stop them."

If it weren't for their situation, Moon would have been impressed with the stoic, queenly tone that Star was speaking to her with. But that was ultimately ignored when the words Star said made Moon's stomach drop.

"But...But the spell-"

"Will prove useless. Fortunately, after nine long years, I finally have a _permanent_ solution."

It was in that one word that Star had let some emotion back into her voice. Moon recognized the emotion and, once again looking upon her daughter's current state, was suddenly filled with overwhelming fear.

Moon grabbed Star by the shoulder, offering a nervous smile to Star's unchanging expression.

"Star, listen, I know that nine years may have gone by for you. And I know that you may be angry over everything you've worked for being torn apart-"

"Livid."

"But, please, don't do anything drastic! There are mewmans in those suits of armor! Mewmans with families, people who love them! I'm sure that we can come up with a solution where none of us have to do anything that we'll regret!"

Moon put her hand on Star's cheek, her smile turning warm and motherly, but Star was unmoved.

"You know who also has a family, mom? Globgor. Do you know how many times he's died because of a Solarian Warrior?"

Frowning, Moon pulled away. "How...many?"

"One thousand, five hundred and eighty-nine times. It would have been more, but I finally got him to stop throwing himself into battle after I created the suspended animation spell."

Looking downward, Star sighed as she shook her head. "While I admire his willingness to protect his kingdom...I eventually grew numb to Meteora's cries when her father would die in front of her."

Moon put a hand over her mouth, small amounts of tears pooling in her eyes.

Star looked up and continued, "and Globgor was not the only one. I have seen so much death that I am just numb to it all. And did the Solarian Warrior's ever care? No. They always just laughed. Laughed, and danced around the corpses like we were back in Solaria's time.

I am far beyond mercy for them. What happens next, they deserve every moment of it."

"Star-"

"And don't think that I haven't tried to find another solution. I have tried everything. _We_ have tried everything. We tried fighting them."

Star held her arms out mockingly, "The three queens putting their magic together to take down the big bad army. Two hundred, forty-eight times we tried, but we always failed. It became a coin toss of who would die first, you or Eclipsa. Two hundred and nine times it was Eclipsa, even after I taught her how to unlock her mewberty form.

But, if I can give you anything, two out of the thirty-nine times you died first was because you jumped in front of Eclipsa. So, I at least know that you don't entirely hate her."

Star gave Moon three contemptuous slow claps before refolding her arms. Moon was now at a loss for words. Surely, there must be some other avenue that hadn't been explored yet.

"B... but what about the-"

"I tried convincing the Magical High Commission to help stop Mina. But they, save for Hekapoo, wouldn't be swayed. And no matter how many portals we created to try and get the monsters to safety, Mina always found us. Omnitraxus _helped_ her find us. I have only one day before time loops, and that's all the time she seems to need."

Star sighed again, unfolding one of her arms to rub at her eyelids with her fingers.

"I even tried a dead-raising spell to bring Solaria back and convince her to stop the warriors. But, even when the threat of death loomed over her own daughter, she wouldn't let go of the fact that Eclipsa had a baby with a monster."

Star put her hand back and stared at Moon, the same undead stare of one who was just tired of it all.

"I've raised armies and watched them all fall. So much death, destruction, pain, loss, and all of it would be erased when I wake up next to Doop-Doop."

It was then that Star did a small twirl in her heel before pacing around on Cloudy.

"Which brings me to year two of my time looping. At that point, I was so frustrated that I thought of just destroying magic altogether."

Star briefly looked at Moon with her head cocked to the side.

"But I realized that it wouldn't be fair of me to screw over every magical being and user in every dimension just to solve my problems, now would it?"

Moon didn't answer, so Star continued pacing. "It took some time, and a lot of self-reflection, but I did realize that the only way to stop what Solaria created was to use her own magic to destroy it. So, I studied. I studied, and practiced, created, destroyed, over and over again until I finally perfected the solution."

Star finally stopped pacing and gave Moon a bow. "Now, if you excuse me, I have an army to destroy. Once and for all."

Cloudy maneuvered around Moon and sped off toward Monster Village.

"Star, wait!" Moon cried, about to give chase.

Star held her hand up and pointed behind her. "Blueberry snake, you can't escape."

A beam of blue light shot from Star's finger and struck Moon. Moon cried out as her arms were pinned down by long blue snakes while her wings stuck together from a gooey blue substance that smelled strongly like blueberries. With her wings unable to flap, Moon fell out of the sky. Below her, she heard several mewmans gasping and screaming as they watch her fall. Moon struggled even more to break free, but it was useless. Just when she thought that she was about to hit the ground, she suddenly found herself in the arms of her husband.

"Moon-pie, I got you!"

She ignored him, instead looking toward the sky where the sight of her daughter continued to grow smaller from her vision. Moon screamed out her daughter's name as loud as she could. Whether Star didn't hear her, or did and simply ignored her, she wouldn't know.

* * *

_Eclipsa,_

_You need to remain calm against the threat of the Solarian Warrior. Do not engage. **DO NOT LET GLOBGOR ENGAGE.** Below, I have detailed a spell for you to use to stall the warrior until I arrive. I will take care of everything from there._

_Best Wishes,_

_Star_

It was maybe the fourth or fifth time Eclipsa had read over Star's letter. Just as she and Globgor were about to enact their surprise attack, it had appeared. Despite Globgor's protests, Eclipsa assured him-and secretly herself-that things would be fine as long as they did as Star said.

So, while Globgor did his best to aid in evacuating the citizens of New Monster Town, Eclipsa stood before the Solarian Warrior, who had yet to notice her as it continued to lay waste to everything around it.

Taking a deep breath, Eclipsa felt her body raise off the ground as the magic channeled through her.

"Suspendum Alacritas!" she yelled, a white beam of magic shooting out and striking the Solarian Warrior right in its chest plate.

Eclipsa held her breath as the Solarian Warrior looked to where it had been struck, then in the direction of where the beam had come from. When it spotted her, the ground shook as it began to charge. But, just as it had taken the first few steps, a wave of white washed over its armor, and the Solarian warrior froze mid-run.

Silence. No one dared to move. Even the onlooking citizens of the kingdom, who were previously fleeing for their lives, stood as frozen as the Solarian Warrior. They all waited, staring at the warrior as it would suddenly spring back to life and continue its rampage.

Almost two minutes went by before Eclipsa released the breath she didn't realize that she still was holding. Taking a few deep breaths to steady her nerves, she returned her feet to the ground, and walked toward the Solarian Warrior. She hesitantly pressed her hand against the cold armor, her other hand still griped tightly around her wand, still half expecting it to attack again.

But, still, nothing.

"That...actually worked..."

Eclipsa pulled Star's letter out of the pocket she stashed it in and read it over once more. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Where did Star learn this kind of magic?

* * *

Star stared into the eye of the storm, the root of the madness, but she wasn't scared. She remembered being scared during the beginning of her time looping. Even when her friends stood beside her, or when Moon and Eclipsa joined her side to charge, she always felt a small tinge of fear trickling inside her.

Now, however, she felt nothing inside.

That was a lie, she did feel something. She felt the duty to remember this moment. What she was about to do would be on her conscious for the rest of her life, if she would ever listen to her conscious again, and she will remember every moment of it.

She took in how dry the air felt as she inhaled. How there was just a small amount of wind blowing around her, which was enough to sway her short hair.

She will always remember the sight of the Solaria's warriors reborn as they made their powerful march toward their target. She knew that Mina was leading the march, like she always did, but the rest were just nameless bodies of armor, sharing no noteworthy differences that would leave a lasting mark after their death. They were all like that with too many to count, not like she would ever bother to do so. There would be no point in the end.

A part of her, that remaining small shred of the former Star Butterfly, almost wished to know the names of all of them. Be the one to know just so that all of them wouldn't die a statistic and would be remembered in some form.

But that was more than they would ever deserve, whether they knew why or not.

Mina eventually spotted her and raised her hand to signal the rest of the army to stop with her. Before she could say anything, Star began the spell.  
Star's body lifted off the ground, her eyes, as well as her cheek marks, glowing a pastel purple as the dark magic once again channeled through her. She held her hand up, a dark purple ball forming in her palm as she began the incantation.

" _I call the spell which had no name,_  
 _a mother's gift with which she reigned._  
 _Though I am not blood, I summon this power_  
 _to see my foe and her army devoured!_ "

The ball grew larger, becoming translucent as it sprouted wings and took on the face of a skull. The deadly butterfly continued to grow larger, almost seeming to swell as Star put every fiber of her being into this one spell.

Mina just laughed. "Ha! You think that one little butterfly will stop all of us?" The rest of the warriors broke out into laughter behind her.

Star's free hand curled into a fist, but quickly relaxed. With a deep breath, she continued.

" _Eclipse my heart, let dark magic flow,_  
 _to finish the spell started long ago._  
 _And on this day, they will know of its completion._  
 _I name this spell The Eradication!_ "

Like a balloon filled with confetti, the giant butterfly burst into thousands of smaller versions of itself. Filling the sky with an array that would have been beautiful, if not for the aura of death that each of the butterflies gave off. The swarm of magic shot toward the Solarian army at an almost blinding speed. Mina, the only one able to react in time, drew her sword out in the path of the butterfly, the largest one, aimed at her. The energy of her sword melted away in a thick red liquid the moment it contacted the butterfly. It would not be deterred from the target its master commanded it to destroy.

It was only the warriors farthest from Star that had the chance to scream.

* * *

"Star!"

Eclipsa and Marco both ran to Star, who only continued to calmly walk toward them. When they got close enough to look at Star's appearance, they both stopped in their tracks in shock a few feet away from her.

Eclipsa's hand covered her mouth, but she moved it when she had to ask, "Star! What happened to you, dear?"

Ignoring the question, Star announced, "The Solarian army has been eradicated."

Eclipsa's eyes widened. Marco's did as well for a moment, until his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Wait, you knew about Mina's army?"

Star sighed as she shook her head. "I know more than you could ever fathom, Marco"

"Star!"

The three of them turned to see the Magical High Commission, along with Moon, running toward them. Star almost felt angry at the tearful look of betrayal on Moon's face among the ranges of furious expressions from the Magical High Commission, but she had expected this.

"What have you _done_?" Rhombulus demanded

"I saved the monsters from an unjust execution at the hands of overpowered, prejudice mewmans"

"You killed _hundreds_ of mewmans!" Omnitraxus yelled, getting in Stars face as a way of trying to intimidate her. It didn't work.

"Who would have slaughtered thousands of monsters if they had not been stopped. Frankly, their lives for the lives of the monsters was a fair trade."

"That's it!"  
Omni stepped back as Rhombulus aimed his snake arms toward Star and fired his crystal magic.

"No!" Eclipsa shouted, her and Marco reaching their hands out toward Star while Marco yelled out her name.

They both paused when nothing happened. Star continued to stand there with her arms folded and without a single trace of crystal.

Confused, Rhombulus looked down at his snakes, who looked just as confused as he did. He tried again, and again, and again, each time with the same result.

Finally giving up, Rhombulus muttered out an embarrassed, "I swear this usually doesn't happen..."

It was at that point that Star pulled back the hair that had been covering her left ear to show off a dangling crystal earring.

"I've been in this loop too long to not know your tricks. This crystal nullifies your powers against me," she explained simply

Hekapoo growled, marching up to Star and jabbing Star in the chest with her finger. "Even if we can't crystalize you, did you honestly think that you would be able to get away with this? Your crime against mewmanity is too large to be ignored!"

Hekapoo's anger melted away to shock as she let out a pained gasp. Within seconds, her body disintegrated into dust. Everyone gasped in horror... except Star. It didn't take long for them to notice that she had a glowing ball of dark magic formed in her hand. She looked coldly at the remaining Magical High Commission, who fearfully took a step away from her.

"As are yours..."

"Star, no!"

* * *

Marco tentatively entered their shared room, finding Star laying sideways on her bunk with her hands resting over her chest. Marco felt his steps get slower and heavier as he trudged over to her bed and sat down on the mattress next to her. She didn't look at him, and Marco debated on whether that was a bad thing. From seeing Star again after the Solarian Warriors had been defeated, to when she had explained that she was now technically nine years older, to even now, Marco had noticed that there was something wrong with Star's eyes. They were no longer the eyes of the girl he loved. Instead, her eyes looked as if someone had killed her, and only half-resurrected her; leaving her as the soulless husk of what was once the most lively girl he had ever met.

But he wouldn't let that get in the way of the now. He still loved Star, and, right now, she needed him more than ever.

"Hey, Star, you doing okay?" he asked, deciding that that question would work as the best transition to a conversation.

Star turned her head toward him, her eyes refocusing to stare directly at him.

"Fine. Why do you ask?"

Not being able to keep eye contact with Star, he turned away. Scratching the back of his neck, he tried to push on.

"Oh, you know, it's just that your mom was thrown in the dungeon, the dark magic stuff, and what happened with the Solarian Warriors. Not to mention the Magical High Commission is now dead...Usually these kinds of things get...I don't know...more of a reaction out of you?"

Marco dared to look back at Star and was guiltily relived to see that she had gone back to staring at the top bunk.

With a sigh, she replied, "nine years ago they did, Marco. Not anymore, though."

Marco waited a few moments before pushing further with a question that had been on his mind since finding out about the time loops.

"So, with this time loop thing, did you ever find out about..." He trailed off. But, as if she had read his mind, Star replied with, "yes."

It was an answer that gave no actual indication of her feelings. Just as neutral as any other sentence she had said today.

Almost desperate now, Marco pushed with, "So... how do you feel about..." Once again, he lost his words, looking down to the floor.

He looked back when Star had sat up, hunching over as she looked down at her palms. They were no longer stained with the dark purples that were the signature taint of dark magic. When she had ventured into the realm of magic to rescue Tom, as well as re-purify the corrupted waters, the golden water of the realm had washed the purples away. It had actually elicited surprised from her with how fast it happened. It wasn't even a slow fade, the colors just slid off her arms as if it had been wet paint under running water. Just like that, it was gone, and her arms were returned to her normal skin color.

Star was...almost disappointed. Along with her eyes, the taint had been the only proof to her suffering for those nine long years. A scar that she would have worn proudly, as if to prove to any who saw her that there was nothing she wouldn't do to protect those she loved. That she was not a skimmer.

But, now, it was gone.

Star rubbed the palm of her right hand with her thumb. "Marco, though I was surrounded by friends and family, I was alone for nine long years."

Star felt the tears sting her eyes before they slid down her cheeks. When _was_ the last time she had cried?

"Nine, _painful_ years of having watch and listen as everything I had tried so hard to build was destroyed. My friends and family will never truly know the burden I now carry. All the memories of death, destruction, pain, are mine alone to carry until the day I die."

Marco leaned in, placing a hand on Star's shoulder for comfort. He jumped in surprise when Star wrapped herself around his midsection.

"So, right now, I just want you to be here with me."

Marco blinked, then smiled warmly, wrapping his arms around Star while resting his head atop of hers. Star pressed her head into Marco's chest, listening to the same heartbeat that had gotten her through hundreds of nights of doubt and pain that Marco would never remember. And that didn't matter.

For the first time in years, as she had begun to drift off into sleep, a smile appeared on Star's face that was truly genuine. Smiling under the knowledge that, when she awoke, there would finally be a tomorrow.


End file.
